The Canaries recovered from a sluggish first half but gifted Jonathan Walters a penalty leveller after Bradley Johnson had powered the hosts ahead just before the hour mark.

Hughton’s side were presented with a chance for redemption when Walters was red-carded with 17 minutes left, but Asmir Begovic was a virtual spectator as the Potters ran the clock down with few alarms.

“Sometimes you are pleased when you see a team go down to 10 but there is arguably no-one better than Stoke at dealing with getting men behind the ball,” said Hughton. “There are not too many with their height and power at the back. The only way you felt it might come was a good strike from outside the box or getting in behind the full-backs. Generally anything lofted into the box is not going to bring success and we didn’t really make any inroads. It might have been a little bit more open without it.

“At times we had Seb (Bassong) up there with a front two and we got a lot of balls into the box but, no, we didn’t do well enough in that period but the frustrating thing was in a game that wasn’t a classic we did enough to win. I’m not so sure it benefited us.”

Hughton insisted Walters deserved to go for a studs up challenge on Alex Tettey that could have had far-reaching repercussions beyond the midfielder’s injury exit.

“I think the lad is going to be okay. He was sore after the game from where he was caught but we don’t feel there will be any problems,” said Hughton. “I don’t think there can be too many complaints. He is certainly high. They both went for the ball but Walters was higher than Alex and he certainly caught him. It is one that most referees would have given.”

The Norwich chief was less convinced over referee Andre Marriner’s decision to penalise Bassong after he felled John Guidetti inside the penalty area.

“The penalty was soft. It was a ball I didn’t think Seb needed to go for,” said Hughton. “On other occasions a different referee might not have given it but we allowed ourselves to get in that position. It was a long throw we needed to deal with better. We have spoken as a group and I was annoyed we allowed ourselves to get in that position, as much as the penalty.

“The frustration comes from not seeing out the game. We were 1-0 up against quite a direct Stoke side who offer that physicality up front and the disappointment was the equaliser came in the period when we were more comfortable. I thought they gave us some problems in the first half but we had come through that. It definitely felt like two points dropped. At 1-0 I felt we dealt with everything they had thrown at us in the second period.”

Hughton accepted Norwich may rue a chance to ease further away from the bottom three.

“We could have done ourselves a big favour and make life more comfortable for ourselves with a win,” he said. “But it doesn’t change how I feel about our situation in the table.”

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I think CH has finally accepted what we've all known for far too long now. He's out of his depth, has no back bone when it comes to fighting teams and is resigned to relying on other teams to keep us out of the drop zone.

Chris Hughton decided to sit on a 1-0 lead and try to see out the game, hence the removal of Hoolahan after the goal. This invited Stoke to come forward and inevitably our brittle defence immediately crumbled. With a defence like ours you cannot sit back on a 1-0 lead. If it wasn't for Stoke going down to 10, we would probably have lost that game. We are fast running out of games, we have to learn to score in those remaining games and go for the throat. I don't think its a case of saving ourselves this season but rather hoping someone is worse. I hope Hughton and the team were watching Wigans heroics, they went for a second goal, which took them through.

For heavens sake Hughton try to sing from a different hymn sheet, this is so repetetive, predictable and boring plus the man has no answer to the problems. Put him out of his misery and give Neil Adams a shot to the end of the season or trawl through the posters on here and there will be dozens who could make a better fist of it.

I think this isn't a disastrous result, but because everyone saw stoke as at home as one of our "easier" games it feels like a disaster. Neil Adams as a firefighter till the end of the season, then Lennon in the summer? Can't see us staying up with hughton.

"No one better than Stoke at getting men behind the ball" he says. Yeah, and no one worse than Norwich at getting men behind defences. What's Lennon doing for rest of season? Or will Scotland lend us Strachan? Perhaps I can take over and gee the team up with optimistic stats

The City board brought in CH with the brief " Keep us out of the bottom three ". A mind set totally lacking in ambition. After three years in the Premiership , CH should have been instructed to gain a top ten spot. There is no reason why N City could not become a successful club. Small Acorns and all that. To succeed there must a will to win and grow. The owners of the club have seen the balance sheet improve enormously. It was noticable that CH had no funds availabe at the last transfer window. Perhaps, the board are content to keep the money in the bank and have accepted Championship football next year. It would not be the first time that board did not have the belief in City as a premiership side.

No manager should run down the opposition.That would be the best team talk ever. Re a target man I was saying yesterday the both Hooper and RVW played with a target man at their previous clubs and that has never been addressed.

You will be fully aware of the respect I have for your statistical and analytical skills, LincsCan, but taking on the responsiblility for finding optimistic stats is asking a lot. If you are hell-bent on tackling this improbable task, I suggest you first get in touch with Dubai Canary and ask him to send you some of his Dubai Abu Yabba Dabba Dhabi Elixir, aka Pollyanna Potion, Premier Potency. A carefully controlled aliquot can get you through a full game with just enough time spare to compose a Happy Clappy posting to Archie, provided you hurry. Once the effects wear off, reality makes a brutal return. This can be quite traumatic, so have a few pints of Bateman`s XXXB on hand to soften the landing. Here`s a small contibution: there is one Prem team that has scored fewer goals than us, and all of 2 that have conceded more. There`s optimistic! BTW, beware of overdosing because the effects become irreversible, then you will be a danger to yourself and all in your vicinity. Your perpetual cheerfulness will, in all probability, result in somebody taking your life, with all the tragic consequences that ensue. I think there is a Health Warning from the UAE Government on each camel-skin container of potion.

So in summary, we did not win because 1) it was a soft penalty, 2) the righteous sending off Walters made it harder for us as Stoke are so good at parking the bus and 3) no need to worry as we are not in the bottom three. Did I miss anything?

One further point, CH said 'getting in behind the full-backs' might have been an answer!!! How daft can you be to then employ a left footer on the right wing........ Even more daft to actually say it and not realise how daft it might sound!

Tonyb, although you are spot on about Becchio the same really applies to both Hooper and RVW and therein lies our problem. Hooper tries very hard and works his socks off, I do not buy that RVW does the same and think he moves into the wrong position 9 out of 10 times. Any manager worth his salt would have identified that we needed a target man back in the summer and would have made that top priority, failing that even a poor manager should have found one in January, what does that say about our overpaid manger I wonder.

KF how do you know he doesnt do it in private. I,m afraid ranting about the team in public doesnt work. Many have found that out in the past. Ask Di Canio. Also I have a feeling that Sherwoods job wont last much longer.

For heavens sake Hughton try to sing from a different hymn sheet, this is so repetetive, predictable and boring plus the man has no answer to the problems. Put him out of his misery and give Neil Adams a shot to the end of the season or trawl through the posters on here and there will be dozens who could make a better fist of it.

Becchio does not get a chance imo because he is not known for chasing around after the ball,he is just a poacher who given a chance would score goals but not much else,which in the modern game is not enough seems like!!

I fully agree with you Les C and would not have started with either Bassong or RVW. Does anybody know why Bennett was not at least on the bench on Saturday, I thought he was now fully fit. One thing is for sure, we have the wrong style manager for our type of club and that is being kind to him. He does not have what it takes to wind up a team of average talent and seems fearful of ever going for a victory. Even on Saturday, he was planning to remain defensive after their player was sent off and only brought on Hooper when many fans in the crowd started to chant his name, simply not up to the job in hand but the board are blind to this.

Sharky, you are right that ranting about players in public is not the way forward but I think Sherwood kept his comments a touch below that when he criticised his players for a poor showing against Chelsea. CH on the other hand always comes over as far too mild in both manner and speech plus he always praises the opposition even when they are fellow struggler's. At the weekend I would have expected him to say our performance was simply not good enough and we should have buried a relatively poor opposition. I am still amazed that Bassong got to start the game given his dreadful outing at Villa and likewise the selection of RVW over Hooper.

As a relatively small club we have to face the fact that we will never be able to attract the so called top and therefore most expensive players, as a result, the only way for us to succeed is to employ run of the mill players who are prepared to work their socks off for the team. I expected nothing more than we got on Saturday as it is blatantly obvious that the manger does not have what it takes to get a team wound up. We started flat and never improved, despite making earlier substitutions nothing changed and the team remained flat. The only reason why Hooper was introduced was because a large section of the crowd started to chant his name, otherwise he would have stuck with a single striker in the hope that we could hang on for a draw. All we need is a manager with a bit of passion, even Warnock has that but not my cup of tea really.

Thanks to the "Snuffers of the thought police". out of sheer frustration I seldom come on here now but one question constantly posed and is never answered by anyone and that is "What on earth has Becchio done to not get a try, he cannot possibly be worse that what is served up at the moment" Why did Winkle get 80 minutes and Hooper got 10 minutes? Has anyone though of playing Bunn or Bassong at centre forward?

He would do better talking less about the opposition and more about how he is going to get us out of the hole he has got us into.How many more chances is he going to gaive Bassong and RVW before he drops them?

How about someone like Tim Sherwood , a man who speaks his mind and is not afraid to criticise his players when they put in a sub standard performance ? Instead we get another mealy-mouth bunch of excuses and praise for players who truly are not worthy of it. I would have a lot more respect for Hughton if he ranted and roared about the inadequacies that we all saw on the last two outings. It makes no difference , the farce continues. Nothing will change at Carrow Road until something changes at Board level. Under Hughton we continue the headlong dash to mediocrity and relegation.

Mentioning Wigans heroics, an up and coming Uwe Rosler or Burnleys Dyche are better options than previously failed managers and lets leave our memories of Malky intact as if he comes and sets out his defensive stall he will soon upset some of us. As for Lennon, No, No, No

Please Brew do not envy my brief moment of fame with the triple post because like you I have fallen victim to the "Snuffers of the thought police". Out of sheer frustration I seldom come on here now but one question constantly posed and is never answered by anyone and that is "What on earth has Becchio done to not get a try, he cannot possibly be worse that what is served up at the moment" Why did Winkle get 80 minutes and Hooper got 10 minutes? Has anyone though of playing Bunn or Bassong at centre forward?

For heavens sake Hughton try to sing from a different hymn sheet, this is so repetetive, predictable and boring plus the man has no answer to the problems. Put him out of his misery and give Neil Adams a shot to the end of the season or trawl through the posters on here and there will be dozens who could make a better fist of it.

The sad truth is that CH has always managed to do just enough at the right time to keep his job - for those who supported him that is. Most of us realised he was not up to it and by the time everyone else did, NCFC then had the dilemma that a late change of manager might be counterproductive. The outside world saw this in January which is probably why we could not recruit any new players because who with ambition would want to come here? However, we may now be at the situation where it is equally obvious that we will go down unless we make a change but who worthwhile would want to come in as manager and take that risk? Perhaps the only saving grace is that almost half the PL are in the same position?

How about someone like Tim Sherwood , a man who speaks his mind and is not afraid to criticise his players when they put in a sub standard performance ? Instead we get another mealy-mouth bunch of excuses and praise for players who truly are not worthy of it. I would have a lot more respect for Hughton if he ranted and roared about the inadequacies that we all saw on the last two outings. It makes no difference , the farce continues. Nothing will change at Carrow Road until something changes at Board level. Under Hughton we continue the headlong dash to mediocrity and relegation.